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Wednesday, 7 November 2012

Violence plagues Jalisco’s Pacific coast

Mexico’s Pacific Coast is a huge and varied place. Historically,
some areas have been understood to be safe, and some not-so-safe. Specifically,
the State of Guerrero and the highway south of Acapulco have had a reputation
for lawlessness dating back to the 1960s. You didn’t drive at night, and of you
did, you prepared for the possibility of a hold-up – or worse. The reason for
this was very simple: Guerrero was run by a bunch of goons, and criminals were
allowed to run rampant.

In fact, back in the 1970s stories of bodies washing up on
the shores of Acapulco were hushed up as “shark attacks”. Apparently, this was
the big secret, denied by all who leaked it, because it would be bad for
tourism. Well, cynicism knew no bounds: the bodies were in fact campesinos taken out by government
henchmen. But, better a good shark story – far more exotic than a paramilitary
war on the poor.

As scary as that sounds, most of the coast is known for
being just fine. The area south of Puerto Vallarta in the State of Jalisco, for
example, is as relaxed as any Caribbean island. However, two murders of
Canadians this year in the small fishing village of Melaque, the most recent only
this past week, require a major re-evaluation of the area.

The
first murder occurred in early January.
Robin Wood, originally from Salt Spring Island in British Columbia,
stood up to two thieves he encountered after returning home from a concert. He
had been robbed before – once on the street, and twice when his place had been
broken into. He fought back, and was killed.

Then in on October 21 Ron Lloyd MacKintosh, originally from Parksville
on Vancouver Island, BC, went missing
after dropping off a friend in Melaque. He had recently moved to Barra de
Navidad. Mr. MacKintosh was found two weeks later by a police officer about one
kilometre off of coastal highway 200 between Barra de Navidad and Melaque. Mackintosh,
64, was found with a cord around his neck, tied to a tree. Officials are
convinced he was murdered.

Ron Lloyd MacKintosh in Mexico

Mexico is largely a safe destination for Canadians. This is
due to the fact that, despite all the bad press, most Mexicans are generous,
law-abiding citizens. The problem is that Mexico’s institutional flaws are
deep. As well, Canada’s consular officials can offer information and support,
but little more.

As a result, if an area in Mexico “goes bad” it can be difficult
for local officials to bring it under control, and Canadian authorities are
powerless, sometimes even unable to respond in a meaningful way.

The motive for the murders of both Canadians was robbery. In
the case of Mr. Wood, three men were arrested in connection with his death.
This means nothing. The three individuals may have had previous records, they
may have been picked up for selling marijuana, or local drunks, or bad eggs
running extortion rackets, or perhaps mixed up in any number of grudges. The
important thing is the “show” of an arrest. This is not to say that a
committed, honest, and intelligent detective didn’t track down the real
culprits. It is simply that when a gringo
is killed, arrests – any arrests – are the top priority, and should be observed with a wary eye.

A report from Héctor Aguilar Camín, editor of Nexos,
published at the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, sums up the
problem very well.

“At the root of the problem is a historically weak system of
rule of law. The weakest link of this particular chain is local governments,
which are responsible for the prosecution of common crimes such as homicide,
robbery, extortion and kidnapping. There are different figures available, but
the most reliable one shows that local governments only punish 5% of those
common crimes. So, the probability that
one person can kill another in Mexico and get away with it is 95%.

With such a high rate of impunity, it is remarkable that
Mexico is not a more violent and criminal place than it is. Drug trafficking
adds an extraordinary flow of cash, corruption and criminal opportunities to
the weak rule of law and the crime
patterns already existent.”

There are important things to note here. First, given that
Mexico is “lawless”, it is a remarkably safe country – testament to the core
decency of the Mexican people. Second, when the State embarks on a violent internal
conflict – over 60,000 people have died in Mexico’s drug war in the past six
years – the fallout within civil society will be extreme. There is no avoiding
it. When the cockroaches scatter, they go looking for food elsewhere.

We shall see if Melaque, the nearby and larger community of
Barra de Navidad, as well as Puerto Vallarta and the Jalisco State Government
in Guadalajara, can handle this problem. Don’t hold your breath. Just last
month, the police chief in Puerto Vallarta was attacked with hand grenades and
AK-47s in broad daylight. He escaped, but some bystanders were injured. The Los
Zetas drug cartel claimed reasonability. Soon after, he resigned.

This still begs the question: How dangerous is Mexico? Many
people, in their wisdom, might suggest that the question itself argues that one
should err on the side of caution and avoid the place altogether.

By comparison, Mexico is clearly in another league altogether. Jalisco,
where Melaque is located, averaged 24 murders per 100,000 in 2011. And if we
look at Melaque itself, the death of the two Canadians alone puts the murder
rate at 50 per 100,000. Allowing for Mexicans, the rate is likely higher. And allowing
for gringos as targets, the trend is
not good.

A Canadian academic, the University of Toronto Sociologist James
Creechan, has a working document titled The
Use, Misuse and Abuse of Crime Statistics in Mexico. In it, he makes a
strong argument that the rise in crime in Mexico is directly attributed to the
Mexican government’s war on drugs. Will things improve when the new president, Peña
Nieto, takes office in December? We can only hope so.

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In the podcast Notes From The Underground TE Wilson discusses historical and contemporary attitudes toward crime. Each episode features a one-on-one interview that explores a unique topic. Interviewees include authors, experts, and individuals with personal experiences of crime. These podcasts were originally broadcast through the facilities of Trent Radio in Peterborough, Canada.

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